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UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, June 13, 2024 |
Organist Christopher Houlihan has established an international reputation as an “intelligently virtuoso musician” (Gramophone) and is hailed for his “glowing, miraculously life-affirming performances” (Los Angeles Times). Houlihan has performed at major venues across the country, including the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), and Disney Hall (Los Angeles). In 2017, he was appointed the John Rose College Organist-and-Directorship Distinguished Chair of Chapel Music at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His critically acclaimed CD recording, Houlihan Plays Bach, was released in 2017 on the Azica label.
From the Critics
“Christopher Houlihan delivered an epic, literally breathtaking performance of reinvented standard repertoire and unexpected treats. There were several instances where Houlihan literally pulled out all the stops, which was nothing short of exhilarating, but the ride getting there was just as entertaining, and revelatory. He bookended the show with Bach – an emphatic, triumphant encore, as if to say with a grin, “I own this space now” – and a reinvention of the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582… there’s no question he [Bach] would have at the very least approved of how imaginatively Houlihan varied his textures, from the otherworldly rustic melancholy of the introduction, through ghostly flutes, stygian pedalwork and mighty blasts of brass from the trompette en chamade located like a bullseye, front and center. Finally, Houlihan threw caution to the wind and attacked the Toccata from Vierne’s 24 Pièces de Fantaisie with a stiletto intensity. Yet even as this hurricane of sound grew from bluster toward sheer terror, there was an immutable, stunning balance, Houlihan confident amid the torrents in the very eye of the storm.”
(delarue, New York Music Daily blog, September 17, 2018)
“Organist Christopher Houlihan gave a captivating performance on the IV/67 Schantz, Opus 1059, at Country Club Christian Church. He revealed his musical gifts and persuasive interpretive abilities on the musical chestnut Four Sketches for Pedal-Piano, Op. 58, by Robert Schumann. Interesting registrations and clarity of playing served up a healthy dose of panache for these delightful character pieces. “Master Tallis’s Testament” from Six Pieces for Organ by Herbert Howells was well suited for the tonal palette of the instrument. Mr. Houlihan’s sensitive registrations, intensifying to a rich, full organ sound followed by an adroit diminuendo to the soft flue celeste, were efficacious. Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17, is a sectional piece that is difficult to play in a live acoustic; the dry acoustic of the sanctuary provided what some might call an insurmountable barrier to attaining the required seamlessness; however, Mr. Houlihan met the challenge admirably with a warm, linear, and cohesive performance with ruminating sections performed masterfully, allowing musical breath, and ebb and flow.”
(Faythe Freese and Lenora McCrosky, 2018 national convention reviewers, for The American Organist, October 2018)
“Organist Christopher Houlihan has world-class chops and the kind of passion that most people who tackle playing the king of instruments have in abundance. Houlihan’s strength is that he’s able to communicate that passion, not just with fingers and feet, but by engaging the audience with plenty of insight into both craft and history. The organ world needs more ambassadors like him.”
(Alan Young, Lucid Culture, June 2015)
“Christopher Houlihan Adds Shine to a Restored Organ at Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph [Brooklyn, NY]. For a Roman Catholic church, an organ is much more than an instrument. It has an almost sacramental power. At the dedication ceremony and concert this past weekend, the gifted young organist Christopher Houlihan proved that the family firm charged with the overhaul, Peragallo, has done an immaculate job. The temptation, for Mr. Houlihan, must have been toward ostentation in showing off their work. Though a rumble here and a tweet there prompted modest smiles on the builders’ faces, he mostly resisted. Saint-Saens’ Fantasy in E-flat was as densely perfumed as the incense what hung in the nave from an earlier Mass. In Vierne’s Fourth Symphony, Mr. Houlihan’s elegant singing of clarinet and flute lines in the Romance movement, over lush clouds of air, would have pleased any conductor of Debussy.”
(David Allen, The New York Times, September 2015)
From the Presenters
“As I type this note, I’m listening through headphones to Christopher’s marvelous performance of the Debussy – a work I love but have never heard in organ transcription. I’m thrilled that the NYC AGO program committee asked to have this recital at St. Bart’s. It was an honor for us to have had Christopher play this extraordinary program brilliantly.”
(Paolo Bordignon, Director of Music, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, New York City, February 2021)
“We are still aglow from the extraordinary performance by Christopher Houlihan. Two weeks after the event, people are still raving about him. The overriding reaction was: “have him back”. Indeed, we will!”
(Lynn Paparella, Stowe Performing Arts, Stowe, VT, May 2018)
“Christopher presented an excellent concert yesterday. The audience of over 500 rose to their feet immediately in appreciation. I was concerned that his program was too AGO crowd oriented, but the audience appreciated his amazing technical abilities and use of the organ. I loved his Bach, and the Debussy came to life in such colorful ways.”
(Scott Fredericks, St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Hanover, PA, November 2017)
“Christopher Houlihan proved himself a powerful ambassador for the organ and its music as he enthusiastically engaged our audience through his oral program notes and masterful playing that led us on a musical journey that revealed the recently rebuilt organ’s tonal variety and beauty. His dazzling technique and innate musicality inspired everyone to rise to their feet with resounding applause immediately upon the release of the final notes of the last composition! Christopher’s performance opened our ears and minds to the potential we now have for using the organ’s expanded resources in the future of the church’s music ministry.”
(Naomi Rowley, First Methodist Church, LaGrange, IL, November 2017)
About His Recordings
“He combines virtuosity and technical security with a captivating musicality that stretches established boundaries and introduces fresh approaches. In the Italian Concerto he transforms the work (especially the outer movements) into a far grander musical statement than can be realized by even a fine two-manual harpsichord. He applies lovely colors and a tender approach to the middle movement. His lithe tempos in the outer movements make the music sparkle…. If one keeps an open mind, one can appreciate what Houlihan has given us in these performances, in which he recalls romantic virtuosity of yesteryear, replete with frequently changing colors and dynamics. Here, Houlihan offers a personal approach which casts yet another fascinating hue upon these timeless masterworks.”
(James Hildreth, The American Organist, January 2019)
“When this [CD] arrived, I suspected I would listen to a few measures and then forget about it on the grounds that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” As a long-time tracker-backer, I spend very little time salivating about a chance to hear some young whiz kid play Bach on an Austin. However, much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this CD. Houlihan makes no bones about using the full resources of the Trinity Chapel Austin, including swell shades and lightening registration changes that are beyond the capabilities of registrants. Houlihan does revel in the Austin’s colors and textures, but there is nevertheless almost always a sense of discipline and design to his interpretations of Bach’s war horses. So I say, all power to Christopher Houlihan. Instead of trying to make the Austin sound like a German Baroque organ that Bach would have known, he delights us with expert and musical transcriptions of 18th century music to a 21st century American organ. If you agree that, in addition to being profound, inspiring, and uplifting, or the epitome of perfect craftmanship, Bach’s organ music can also be fine entertainment, you’ll like this CD. (George Bozeman, The Tracker, January 2018)
“Readers who like the orchestral approach to the Bach organ works will be delighted with this recording. It is a style of playing that Houlihan executes with consummate mastery…. there is no denying Houlihan’s extraordinary achievement in this his first all-Bach recording.”
(William Gatens, American Record Guide, July 2017)
“Houlihan’s skillful interpretation of such classics as Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, a.k.a. The Great, features non-traditional dynamic shadings and register changes that might rattle purists’ bones, positing that Bach’s creative genius would have allowed these nuances, if they’d been possible. In his own intriguing arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Italian Concerto, BWV 971…his conviction in performing it on organ, replete with booming pedal tones, adds an orchestral sensibility while ultimately deepening one’s appreciation.”
(Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press, February 2017)
Christopher Houlihan Plays Bach, Azica Records ACD-71314
Joys, Mournings, and Battles: Music of Duruflé and Alain, Towerhill Recordings TH72025
Louis Vierne: Second Symphony for Organ, Towerhill Recordings TH72019